News

WikiLeaks News:

• A WikiLeaks cable shows that private media journalists in Ecuador served as informants for the U.S. Embassy in Quito.

• WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson spoke on two panels at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy: "Dossier Wikileaks: Italian secrets. By those on the inside" with Stefania Maurizi and Gavin MacFadyen (see below), and "Whistleblowers and anonymous leaks: can the media do without them?" Both panels contain English and Italian speakers.
  

WikiLeaks News:

• Andy Worthington, WikiLeaks media partner for "The Guantánamo Files," has written an article for the one-year anniversary of the release. He also updated his four-part Definitive Guantánamo Prisoner List.

• Jacob Appelbaum was on Democracy Now! discussing CISPA, surveillance, WikiLeaks' Spy Files, Tor, and the "Militarization of Cyberspace." Watch the video below.
  

WikiLeaks News:

• One year ago today, WikiLeaks released The Gitmo Files, thousands of documents detailing 765 of the 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay.

• Stratfor emails released by WikiLeaks reveal an anti-Obama prejudice within the company, with Vice President Fred Burton often referring to him as "Barry Hussein."

• Blogger Peter Knight has written seven articles correcting recent smears against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange from various media outlets.

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks cables show that U.S. officials see Manitoba Hydro, which plans to spend $18B on export-dependent projects, as a struggling utility whose enthusiasm about proposed dams is not shared.

• Virgin Airlines stated that WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson was stopped at Heathrow Airport due to "security issues." Virgin continued by saying it was not an airline issue, but something to be brought up with security services or the Home Office. Robinson also gave an interview with WSWS discussing the incident, as well as government and media attacks on WikiLeaks. See our in-depth coverage of the incident here.

Below is a list of addresses that were handed out on a sheet of paper at the Whitney Biennial 2012's Surveillance Teach-In, and described as "possible domestic NSA interception points".

• 2651 Olive Street, Saint Louis, MO 63103 United States
• 420 South Grand, Los Angeles, CA 90071 United States
• 611 Folsom Street, San Francsco, CA, 94107 United States
• 51 Peachtree Ctr NE, Atlanta, GA 30303 United States
• 10 S. Canal, Chicago, IL, 60606, United States
• 30 E STR SW, Washington, DC 20024, United States
• 811 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10019, United States
• 12976 Hollenberg Dr., Bridgeton, MO, 63044, United States

Friday night was standing room only at the Whitney Biennial 2012's Surveillance Teach-In of Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Laura Poitras.

Her body of work includes: "My Country, My Country", about the U.S. invasion of Iraq; "The Oath", about two Yemeni men caught up in America’s "War on Terror"; and her current work in progress detailing the U.S. surveillance state in post 9/11 America.

Woven through the museum were interactive installations by Stimulate, and two mysterious portraits of of Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks, who has been under house-arrest in Great Britian for 501 days without charge.

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson was delayed at Heathrow Airport, being told she had been put on an "inhibited" list for apparently doing "something controversial." Australian Attorney-Genreal Nicola Roxon denied involvement with her placement on the list and said she is investigating the matter. Meanwhile, Australian citizens protested outside a law conference which both Roxon and Robinson were attending. Crikey has also put out a rather amusing comic about the incident. Watch an interview with Robinson on the matter below:
  

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks published a press release for the 500th day of the unlawful banking blockade against them. Many individuals and organizations support WikiLeaks and are fighting for their right to spend.

• Cabledrum has released the GIFiles Top 20, a list of the Stratfor emails which have received the most media attention. The list includes backgrounds and summaries of the emails, as well as links to related articles.

• WikiLeaks cables from the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines show that Chinese investment scandals in the Arroyo administration affected the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.

WikiLeaks News:

• Today marks the 500th day of the unlawful financial blockade against WikiLeaks by MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, Bank of America, and Western Union. WikiLeaks has lost 95% of their revenue because of this blockade. Find out how you can donate at the WikiLeaks website.

• WikiLeaks lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC and Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon were among the panelists on Australian TV show "Q and A" last night, where WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was discussed. An audience poll showed 79% believe the Australian government is not doing enough to support Julian Assange. At one point, Roxon falsely stated that Julian Assange had fled from Sweden. Watch the full segment below.
  

The long awaited television series 'The World Tomorrow' hosted by Julian Assange will begin airing worldwide this coming Tuesday 17 April at 15:30 Moscow time on both cable TV and online. The news has been meet with considerable speculation as to who Assange's mystery guests will be and has also been met with the now familiar 'Kremlin mouthpiece' dismissal from the mainstream media.

• WikiLeaks announced that the first episode of Julian Assange's 12-part talk show, "The World Tomorrow," will premiere April 17 on RT, 11:30AM GMT (see below for times worldwide). Here are some highlights of the announcement:
  • Official website for "The World Tomorrow."
  • Official video page for "The World Tomorrow."
  • The official hashtag on Twitter is #ExpectAssange.
  • The opening and ending themes have been composed by award-winning British-Sri Lankan hip hop artist M.I.A.
  • RT interviewed Julian Assange about his decision to create the show and the philosophy behind it.

WikiLeaks News (Releases):

• Cablegate coverage:
  • Invisible Children, the makers of the viral Kony2012 video, were informers for the Uganda People's Defense Force, leading to the arrest of multiple suspected opponents of the regime. While Invisible Children initially denied the claims, they have now confirmed their involvement.
  • Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is undergoing extensive treatment for an unnamed condition, though cables released by WikiLeaks suggest he is battling terminal prostate cancer.

WikiLeaks News:

• Today marks the two-year anniversary of WikiLeaks' release of "Collateral Murder."
  

• Global Intelligence Files revelations:
  • Azerbaijan leadership is "terrified" by the prospect of an attack by Armenian military forces.
  • American private security firm SCG International has been helping the Syrian opposition in its efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

• Cablegate revelations:
  • Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, banned in Australia late last year for national security reasons, was being examined as far back as 2008 by Australian intelligence agencies.

WikiLeaks News:

• The Australian Government recently renewed its attacks against WikiLeaks by condemning the organization as "reckless, irresponsible and potentially dangerous" as well as delaying the release of Australian diplomatic cables on Julian Assange until his extradition case has been decided.

• New laws have passed in Australia which make it difficult for organizations like WikiLeaks to operate, including an extradition law which makes it easier for foreign governments to request extradition of Australians and a new spying law which broadens ASIO's reach.

• BBC aired the second episode of its documentary "WikiLeaks: The Secret Life of a Superpower."
  

PM Donald Tusk has now commented on the investigation into the CIA black site in Stare Kiejkuty. According to news agency PAP, he is constantly in touch with President Bronisław Komorowski and General Prosecutor Andrzej Seremet regarding the matter.

He added that the prosecutors investigating the case were "not released from their obvious duty of care for the interests of the country."

He also said: "As far as it is possible for the government, we will be trying to prevent any negative consequences of the investigation and the elucidation of the case, but it will come to light. Nobody can prevent this, neither in Poland nor on the other side of the ocean."

In further remarks, he warned all those working on the case not to leak, to be imprecise or overzealous.

The case was moved to a different jurisdiction, after the former head of the Secret Service, Zbigniew Siemiątkowski, had been interrogated under caution, and accused of crimes against humanity.

Siemiątkowski is currently serving a three year suspended sentence for an unrelated case. He has another previous conviction, and currently works a lecturer at Warsaw University.

Previous coverage of the case.

Council of Europe report on the complicity of European countries in CIA rendition.

Photos of Stare Kiejkuty, including the secluded building in the woods.

This article is solely based on publicly available information. The author of this article is not and never has been affiliated with WikiLeaks, and does not have, and never had inside information on their operations. The article reflects the views of the author only.

The former head of the Polish Secret Service, Zbigniew Siemiątkowski, is accused of false imprisonment and corporeal punishment of prisoners of war in breech of international law, Gazeta Wyborcza and Polish state broadcaster TVP report. These accusations were made by Warsaw prosecutors on the 10th of January 2012. For unknown reasons, the case was moved from Warsaw to Krakow a few days later.

Siemiątkowski remains silent, and indicated that he would do so in the future, to protect the safety of the country.

Based on three sources within the prosecution and the Secret Service, the news outlets report that these accusations were made after the Secret Service revealed their files regarding their collaboration with the CIA during the first years of the war on terror to the prosecutors at the end of 2011.

It has been alleged that the Polish Secret Service made a building on the grounds of their training camp in a remote part of Masovia available to the CIA. The existence of such a camp is supported by flight logs of a nearby airport, which are publicly available, listing CIA flights.

Siemiątkowski now is a lecturer at the institute of Political Studies and Journalism of prestigious Warsaw University. He teaches history of political thought.

For our previous extensive coverage of the case, please see this link.

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks issued a press release offering to host a discussion on the future of Malaysia between Prime Minister Najib Razak, Anwar Ibrahim, and Raja Petra. Shortly after, Anwar Ibrahim accepted the invitation.

• BBC Two aired the first part of a new special, "WikiLeaks: The Secret Life of a Superpower." The documentary focuses on Cablegate revelations and the effects it had around the world. Part two will air March 28 at 9:00PM GMT.
  

• According to emails from Stratfor, a U.S. mercenary "took part" in the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, after which he was sent to assist the Syrian opposition.

Full Transcript March 16, 2012

This transcript was typed from the press pool at Bradley Manning's motion hearing on March 16, 2012 at Fort Meade, MD.

This transcript may have errors and is incomplete in that there was no way for me to capture every word, or every sentence.

Please send corrections to carwinb@hushmail.com.

Bradley Manning's motion hearing is held in same court room as his Article 32 Pretrial Hearing.

You can also read:

• Transcript of Article 32 Pretrial Hearing, Day One to Three
• Transcript of Arraignment
• Transcript of Motion Hearing, Day One

Names:

• General Court Martial Convening Authority: Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington
• Commander of the U.S. Army Garrison, joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall: Col. Carl R. Coffman
• Commander of U.S. Army Headquarters Command Battalion: Lt. Col. Eric Fleming
• Military Judge: Col. Denise R. Lind
• Prosecution: Captain Ashden Fein, Captain Joe Morrow, Captain Angel Overgaard, Capt. Hunter Whyte
• Defense: Mr. David Coombs, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard

Proceedings were delayed until 13:00 because Defense and Prosecution were in Chambers with Judge Denise Lind hashing out a Court Protective Order.

All Rise.

Court is called to order.

Judge Lind We are starting late today, because the parties and Court were going over a Protective Order regarding the handling of classified information. Both parties had filed orders marked as Appellate Exhibits...

...

WikiLeaks News:

• Mainstream Media organizations have been misquoting and misinterpreting our purpose and work here at WL Central. Please note that we are an organization wholly independent of WikiLeaks.

• Stratfor hired Robert D. Kaplan, longtime national correspondent with The Atlantic, as their chief geopolitical strategist to help them bounce back after WikiLeaks began releasing their emails.

• Andy Worthington released Part 33 of his 70-part in-depth series covering the WikiLeaks Guantanamo Files.

• World Socialist Web Site published a new interview with Julian Assange in which he discusses the attacks on WikiLeaks and his upcoming Supreme Court verdict.

Full Transcript March 15, 2012

This transcript was typed from the press pool at Bradley Manning's motion hearing on March 15, 2012 at Fort Meade, MD.

This transcript may have errors and is incomplete in that there was no way for me to capture every word, or every sentence.

Please send corrections to carwinb@hushmail.com.

Bradley Manning's Motion Hearing is held in same court room as his Article 32 Pretrial Hearing. You can read transcripts from the first three days of that proceeding, as well as transcript of his Arraignment here.

• Motion Hearing, Day Two, March 16, 2012

An AFP reporter informed me that the room where the press pool views the legal proceedings, Smallwood Hall, at Fort Meade, MD is also the location where Press views Guantanamo (GTMO) military tribunals via satellite.

Names:

• General Court Martial Convening Authority: Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington
• Commander of the U.S. Army Garrison, joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall: Col. Carl R. Coffman
• Commander of U.S. Army Headquarters Command Battalion: Lt. Col. Eric Fleming
• Military Judge: Col. Denise R. Lind
• Prosecution: Captain Ashden Fein, Captain Joe Morrow, Captain Angel Overgaard, Capt. Hunter Whyte
• Defense: Mr. David Coombs, Major Matthew Kemkes and Captain Paul Bouchard

9:38 a.m. proceedings begin.

All Rise.

Judge Lind: Please be seated. Court is called to order. It appears that all parties are present with the exception of Major Matthew Kemkes [Defense]. Is that correct?